2 January, Asuncion
The ceremonial start of Dakar-2017 was held on 1 January in the capital of Paraguay, Asuncion. The rally organizers continued the tradition of carrying out the start podium separately from the race start itself. The show started at 17:00 local time and finished only late in the evening.
The podium of Dakar-2017 was placed on the bank of the river Paraguay in front of the Official Residence of the Government and the President of Paraguay. 40°C of enormous heat and high humidity didn’t scare away motorsport fans. By the moment of appearing of the “heavy” truck category on the podium, the second wind kicked in the crowd and they greeted them cheerfully. The alive corridor gave a heartwarming welcome to KAMAZ crews: Airat Mardeev (No 501), Eduard Nikolaev (No 505), Dmitry Sotnikov (No 513) and Anton Shibalov (No 515).
Other Russian sportsmen, who came to accept the challenge of Dakar, took part in the start ceremony as well: Ravil Maganov and Kirill Shubin (AUTO, No 378), Sergey Shikhotarov and Oleg Uperenko (AUTO, No 380), Anastasiya Nifontova (MOTO, No 59), Aleksandr Ivanyutin (MOTO, No 60), Sergey Karyakin QUAD, No 254)
On 2 January the race contestants will have to overrun the first 454-kilometre stage, with quite short special – 39 km, in direction to the south to the Argentinean city Resistencia.
Quotations
Airat Mardeev (KAMAZ-master, pilot, crew No 501)
“The race is going to be interesting and challenging. We are risky but at the same time responsible for the result. We need to find the middle ground and drive in a good tempo and sometimes set the pace. We hope that the weather will be good. We saw that Argentina is flooded with rain. But everyone hopes that the main fight will develop high in the mountains of Bolivia.”
Eduard Nikolaev (KAMAZ-master, pilot, crew No 505)
“The capital of Paraguay made a good impression. People are very sincere. They chant: “Rusia, Rusia!” Posters with photos of KAMAZ are everywhere. Also we feel support of our Russian fans. Believe me, we will do our best not to disappoint them and meet their expectations.”
Dmitry Sotnikov (KAMAZ-master, pilot, crew No 513)
“Ambitions of the rivals are already seen on the start podium. If earlier the aim of the most sportsmen was to finish Dakar, so now their target is to achieve a good result.”
Anton Shibalov (KAMAZ-master, pilot, crew No 515)
“When we got to the podium, it started raining. I thought that it is a good sign – rain before the start. I wish good luck to our crew and all my teammates. Of course, the whole truck category of Dakar is like one big family, but I wish Russians more luck this year.”
Ravil Maganov (buggy Polaris, pilot, crew No 378)
“Here’s an amazing atmosphere. Warm welcome of Paraguayans cheers up. It inspires great before the two-week extreme race. Dakar unites people who are fond of motorsport, rally-raid discipline, and I’m pleased to immerse myself in this atmosphere. I and my co-pilot Kirill Shubin are eager to appear on the race track and at the same time we realize that first we need to “roll into” the race and distribute forces for the next 9000 km till the finish in Buenos Aires.”
Information. Numbers of Dakar-2017.
The length of the route is more than 8800 km, including 4000 km of specials, 12 stages6 days of the rally will go on the height of more than 3000 meters
6 days of the rally will go on the height of more than 3000 meters
316 crews are on the start: 83 cars/ 50 trucks/ 146 motorcycles/ 37 quads from 59 countries
2800 people are on every bivouac
80 participants start for the first time on the race
TV-broadcast is in 190 countries
The youngest contestant is 19 years old – Nicolas Amor (navigator, Argentina)
15% of sportsmen are French, 14% are the Dutch, 11% are Argentineans.
